“Bubbles! Hey, Bubbles! Did you hear about this group that found the Labyrinth?”
A figure, slightly shorter than average size, burst through the door of the small house without knocking, surprising the figures inside. There were three of them. A tall, woman in a red and white dress that fit snugly to her frame, working behind a simple alchemy set. Another woman, with obvious draconic features and greenish-black wings, lounged on a couch nearby. In her lap was a small fox boy, the smallest size the avatars could physically be, currently enjoying the sensation of having his head rubbed and pat by the dragon woman.
“What are you doing making so much noise so early in the day?” Bubbles, the one at the alchemy station, asked with a surly glare. “I’m working here, Alasta.”
Alasta paid no mind to her angry retort. More than likely, the air-headed elf probably hadn’t noticed it. “I just heard about this guild that cleared the Labyrinth! Did you know about the Labyrinth?”
“We all have,” the dragon woman said, her tone bored and perhaps a bit impatient. “The news about that has been out for nearly two weeks now. They’re the ones that sold the information.”
“Oh,” Alasta’s face fell slightly. She’d been so excited to deliver the news, which she’d genuinely thought wasn’t known yet. “I thought it was new.”
“You were with us on our last daily raid,” Centrogen snorted, continuing to pat Fluffypie’s head. Then, glancing down at the little foxboy, she said, “Are you hungry? We could go to Flower’s Rest and buy some sweets if you want.”
Fluffypie perked up at that, bouncing and nodding happily. Even the more serious-faced Bubbles couldn’t suppress the slight grin. Their leader Kyraa had made a wise choice, adopting the foxboy as their mascot. It was the one and only time she’d broken her rule about having a women-only guild, but it had been a good thing. Fluffypie, apart from being adorable and the perfect lap companion, was also an amazing support and healer. He knew more magicks than most in the guild, probably the game.
“Get me a wrap,” Bubbles put in shortly.
In reply, Centrogen held out an expectant hand, saying nothing. Bubbles stared at her, pretending not to know what she meant. Then with a sigh, she said, “Oh, fine. Not like you could be a good friend and just get me one.”
“I’m not made of money,” Centrogen said with a smirk. “It’s already bad enough you send me hunting after herbs for your potions. I can’t even keep up with my own stock, and now I have to look after you?”
“Hey!” Bubbles snapped, irritated. “You can’t pretend that my potions don’t help. I saved you from getting poisoned by that salamander in the daily raid, didn’t I?”
“And you gave me instant hunger! I nearly died just because I got slowed down so much!”
“Tankbabe saved you in the end. I don’t want to hear any complaints.”
Alasta stood, watching the two women arguing, torn between anxiety and an energetic desire to keep talking. She was used to the way the two friends seemed to bicker constantly, but she still didn’t like the anger in their voices. She could never tell if the most recent argument was the one that would finally boil over into an actual fight. They made such a good team, with their potions and debuffing magic, but they argued like an old married couple.
“Err, can I come with?” She asked Centrogen, thinking about the cinnamon roll she’d had the other day from Flower’s Rest. It had been the best she’d ever tasted, and she couldn’t wait to get another one.
There was a long pause before Centrogen answered, but she finally agreed. “Sure, I don’t see why not. Kyraa says we’re supposed to do things together, after all.”
Alasta beamed but refrained from jumping up and down in excitement. She was going to get another cinnamon roll! Her mouth watered at the mere thought of it. When Centrogen stood, she held Fluffypie out. “You carry him.”
“But what if we get attacked?” Alasta asked, though she mutely accepted the small form. Fluffypie stretched his arms out in a big yawn, then put his arms around Alasta’s neck like a child hugging their mother. The tall, strong woman could easily hold him with one arm. It almost did feel like she was holding a child. Or perhaps a favored nephew.
“Then I’ll throw a bomb at them,” Centrogen replied. “Come along, now.”
“Get me a chicken wrap!” Bubbles called outside the house, just before the door closed. “I don’t want turkey!”
System Message: You are leaving a safe zone.
Centrogen and Alasta both gave a quick look around as they stepped out of the boundary of their land, seeking out potential threats. Not that there were any to see. They’d pushed back a raid on their property within the past week, so there weren’t likely to be any enemies lingering about, hoping to steal from them. Still, it never hurt to be careful. Centrogen led the way down the wide forest track, turning in the direction of Flower’s Rest.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“I wonder what they’ve added,” Alasta said, blinking as Fluffypie reached out one small hand to pat her on the head. “She’s always putting some new crop or animal on her farm.”
Centrogen had no answer for that, which wasn’t all that surprising. Her eyes were sweeping back and forth along the edges of the forest, always on the lookout for threats. There were less and less attacks in this area now, as more players had settled down and made long-term camps. There were more than a dozen of them in the area now, Alasta recalled. Somehow, almost all of the claimed land was owned by single players. Except for The Progenitors and The Sisters of the Night, their guild.
“Why do we have such an edgy guild name?” She asked now, as the thought came to her.”
“Because we have an edgy guild leader,” was all she got out of Centrogen.
“Don’t you think I should walk in front? I am the tank, after all.”
“Hardly,” Centrogen snorted. “If you get attacked first and Fluffypie gets hurt, I’ll melt you alive with one of the acids Bubbles and I created.”
Alasta swallowed nervously at that. She’d learned the hard way not to make Bubbles or Centrogen mad. They both used poisons and acids in their kits, and it was they who had discovered that, even in a guild, friendly fire was a thing in Project Terra. Kyraa had to put her foot down after a few days following this discovery because too many of the guildmates were losing progress on leveling their skills. Now Bubbles and Centrogen could only test their products on each other, and the occasional unlucky enemy that crossed their paths.
It wasn’t a long walk to where Flower’s Rest was located. The Progenitors didn’t have the most land out of the two guilds that lived here, but they had certainly done the most with it. Kyraa and her guild had used most of their space to build one large guild hall and separate buildings for the different utilities. Bubbles and Centrogen practically owned the small house that Tankbabe had built for them, and used it for their alchemy experiments. Across the street that cut through their land, Tankbabe herself had built a smithy and forge, where she made and maintained the guild’s weapons.
Alasta and the others also had their own houses, arranged in lines on either side of the road. But no other buildings had any real purpose beyond that. Flower’s Rest, however, had very few buildings that didn’t seem to serve a direct purpose. The vast majority of their property was several plots of farmland, growing over two dozen kinds of vegetables and fruit. Centrogen knew they sold most of what they produced, and had made a killing so far selling to Silver Village.
What land wasn’t taken up by the farms was filled with animals of all kinds. Even as the property came into view, they could see some cows drinking from the stream that ran through their property, and a small crowd of chickens that were grazing near the wheat fields. Just in front of the farms, right on the edge of the land’s border, there was a market stall and an improved stone furnace placed where visitors could have easy access. A woman with short blue hair wearing simple brown clothing could be seen pulling some carrots out of the ground.
“Oh, hello!” The woman called, hearing their approach and looking up with a smile. “Sorry, give me just a moment to finish gathering these, and I’ll be right with you!”
“Hey, Azalea,” Alasta said cheerily, while Centrogen merely gave a short nod of greeting. She waited until the blue-haired woman finished what she was doing and walked over before asking, “Do you have any cinnamon rolls left?”
“I have two left. They’re both 84 Yemon if you want them. Centrogen, I just finished making some cookies about an hour ago. I know you like those snickerdoodles I make.”
Even Centrogen couldn’t pretend to be surly at the idea of such a tempting treat. “Sure, I’ll take a few. Bubbles wants a chicken wrap, if you can make it.”
“With pickles, right?”
Centrogen nodded, then jumped slightly as Fluffypie clambered from Alasta’s arms to hang on her shoulder. “I want apple fritters!”
Azalea beamed at the small foxboy. “Of course, you can have some fritters. I made some this morning, just for you.”
Fluffypie beamed at her, then jumped back into Alasta’s arms, settling there with a small bounce as he waited for his sweets. Azalea chuckled quietly to herself as she wrapped the sweets up in some light wrapping paper. “Damn, I’m almost out of paper. Do you know if TuathaDan has made any more?”
“Probably,” Alasta said, accepting her cinnamon rolls and paying Azalea 168 yemon. “He makes a lot of paper. I think I heard him saying yesterday that he was nearly out of wood, though, so he might not have that much stock left.”
TuathaDan was a casual player who lived on the outskirts of the area. He spent nearly all of his time crafting, but he wasn’t online nearly as much as the other players. Azalea nodded thoughtfully, then wrapped up a chicken wrap and some cookies for Centrogen. “That’s just 126, Centrogen. I guess I could ask Caius or Riley to deliver some of our wood over to him. I use his paper so much, it’s only fair I offer to resupply him.”
She passed two apple fritters in a soft napkin to Fluffypie, who immediately pulled one out and took a big bite, showering crumbs as he thanked her. None of them commented on the fact that she hadn’t charged the small foxboy for his treats. Ever since he’d taught Azalea a spell to make her plants grow faster, she’d given him free snacks whenever he stopped by.
“Oh, you guys should stop by next week,” Azalea commented with a mischievous sort of grin. “Riley says he’s going to teach me how to make mead from the honey my bees make. We’re building a brewery over there soon.”
She pointed to an empty area of the land. Centrogen frowned thoughtfully. She swore she could remember something being there on her last visit. Then it came to her. “Finally cleared out that iron mine, did you?”
Azalea nodded in confirmation. “Took me forever, because I’m always busy with the farm, and the others only go in when they log off.”
“Got any plans for the iron? Kyraa or Tankbabe would probably buy it off you.”
“I’d be happy to sell it. Come back with a big wagon. We’ve got over fifty pieces left. Oh, did you hear about the new dungeon?”
“The Labyrinth?” Alasta asked excitedly, forgetting about their conversation from earlier.
“No. Oscar found a new dungeon yesterday. D Rank. But it’s not a simple dungeon. It’s an actual raid.”
That drew their interest at once. Centrogen stood up straight, wiping some crumbs from her lips. “You guys going to do it?”
“We can’t on our own,” Azalea said, scrunching her face up. “Even Caius says it’s impossible. You think Kyraa would want to team up on it?”
“I can ask her,” Centrogen said. “You guys are honest enough, and it’s the first raid we’ve heard of. I’m sure she’ll agree.”
“Well, find out and get back to us. You’re first on the list, but Caius is also thinking of asking solo players in the area. There should be a lot of loot we can share.”